Hot Seat: Possible replacements await great Chicago fire at DePaul

Jerry Wainwright's biggest problem isn't last season's 0-18 Big East mark. That's a problem, sure. But the larger problem is that DePaul is picked last in the league again this season with the First Brother-in-Law and Zeke positioned as sexy replacement candidates.

Seriously, how's a man to survive?

It's one thing to come off a losing season and be expected to lose again, quite another to do it while two local products are (presumably) just waiting to return home and take over a Big East program. It's an unenviable position, impossible even. But that's what Wainwright is facing entering his fifth year at the school, and it won't be long until the DePaul fan base (assuming it still exists) begins wondering whether Wainwright can be paid to go away and replaced with Oregon State's Craig Robinson or Florida International's Isiah Thomas.

Either coach would make sense.

Having an Obama relation at a Chicago school is a home run for obvious reasons, and it doesn't hurt that Robinson has already proved he can recruit in the city. Meantime, you can say whatever you like about Thomas, and if you're Magic Johnson you already have. But what can't be denied is that the Hall of Famer has shown he's capable of using his celebrity to recruit Top 75 prospects (i.e., Dominique Ferguson) to the Sun Belt, meaning there's no telling what he could get done as a Chicago legend recruiting Chicago kids to a Chicago institution.

I really do believe it would work.

So you can see why Wainwright headlines the list of "Coaches on the Hot Seat."

Jerry Wainwright, DePaul

Why he's here: Wainwright is 20-48 in the Big East, a record that includes that infamous 0-18 mark from last season. He's a good coach and everybody likes him. But the bottom line is the bottom line, and the bottom line is that DePaul should never be this bad.

Sidney Lowe, N.C. State

Why he's here: Lowe has assembled quite a recruiting class headlined by five-star point guard Ryan Harrow, but it's unclear if he'll ever benefit from it. That's the result of N.C. State finishing no better than 10th in the ACC in any of Lowe's first three seasons. The Wolfpack are picked last in the ACC this season; that's bad for job security. And the perception in basketball circles is that Lowe's fourth year will likely be his last -- so much so that I've heard multiple staffs mention the desire to pick up Harrow or one of the other N.C. State prospects late, right after Lowe is moved and his recruits are forced to search for a new home.

Ernie Kent, Oregon

Why he's here: The Ducks are moving into a new arena next season, and the school must decide whether it wants to kick off the next era in Oregon Basketball with a coaching change, too. It'll be an interesting/tough decision because on one hand Kent has had a nice run (made the Elite Eight in 2007), but on the other he just doesn't seem like the guy to lead the program for the next five years, and he's coming off a season in which the Ducks finished 2-16 in the Pac-10.

Norm Roberts, St. John's

Why he's here: It's never good to lose a key player for an extended period of time heading into a possible make-or-break season, but that's precisely what happened to Roberts. Anthony Mason Jr. is out four to six weeks with a bad hamstring. That means Roberts will begin his sixth season at a disadvantage, and he didn't need any disadvantages considering he has never finished better than 11th in the Big East.

Paul Hewitt, Georgia Tech

Why he's here: Hewitt took the Yellow Jackets to the national title game in 2004, but did you realize that season is the only of his nine in which Georgia Tech finished with a winning record in ACC regular-season games? It's a stunning statistic, and is partly why Hewitt is on this list. But the good news is he has the talent -- thanks to Iman Shumpert, Gani Lawal and Derrick Favors -- to finish in the top third of the ACC this season, at which point his "hot seat" will be replaced with a contract extension.